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When it became the first company in history to exceed a valuation of $1 trillion last month, Apple's chief executive refused to get carried away. In a memo to staff, Tim Cook offered a hard-headed appraisal of the tech titan's stellar stockmarket performance.

"While we have much to be proud of in this achievement, it's not the most important measure of our success," he wrote. "Financial returns are simply the result of Apple's innovation."

But while the success of blockbuster products like the iPhone and iPad have helped Apple defeat competition from Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft to the $1 trillion level, industry experts say these days the Silicon Valley giant is facing a growing innovation...